Unruly Hearts
by amateurfanwriter
Summary: Woody can't face eveything that has happened. So he runs. Runs from Boston, runs from Jordan. And he makes a new home, that is until a little girl shows up on his doorstep five years later looking for answers. JW in the end of course!
1. Chapter 1

**Unruly Hearts**

CHAPTER ONE

It had been just three weeks since the inn. Since that one night where the hurt and the pain was forgotten, and Woody and Jordan submitted to the blinding passion they held on to. It seemed as though everything would finally be set right. And then everything became tumbled and twisted. It all fell apart. They fell apart.

_"What do you mean Jordan?" Woody screamed in agony. "After all these years, you always turning away from me, you expect me to just drop everything to catch the slim chance you may be serious this time? I already told you, I am not going to be some rebound guy! Don't make excuses Jordan! I know you, this will be just like all the other times! You're not serious about us! You never are! You just want me to chase you forever, but you'll never allow me to catch you. I'm done. You're not serious, you're just jealous. Good try Jordan, but I am not going to give in. Not again."_

_"Woody! It's not like that!" Jordan shouted through the tears which were now freely flowing, too emotional to hide the emotions. "That night meant everything to me! How can it mean nothing to you?"_

_"Your kidding yourself Jordan. Four years of tension got released that night, I'll admit. But I'm done. It was a mistake. You know it and I know it."_

_"No it wasn't. I never thought that Woody! That was much more than nothing, and was absolutely not a mistake." _

_"Stop Jordan. Just stop. I can't do this. I have to meet Lu in an hour. We're done." Woody sighed, exhausted from the argument. _

_"We can't be done Woods." Jordan wept._

_"We are done Jordan. We never even began. Not really. We never were." Woody remorsefully explained._

_"We always were Woody. If you don't see that, if you don't know that, you don't know me at all!" Jordan whispered. "I'll leave you alone to get ready for your date." she said sadly as she sluggishly left his apartment and stepped into the downpour outside. _

A few days passed before Woody and Jordan encountered each other. Woody has avoided Jordan at all costs, afraid to face her, and inwardly afraid to face the truth. He was hiding behind Lu, because Jordan was the real thing, the one, and he didn't know if he could handle that. Yet at least.

Jordan had crawled up in a shell since Woody ended their would-be relationship with such finality. She barely ate, rarely slept, and dove into her work. But her passion, her drive, her heart, was absent from her life. She was a ghost of herself.

Nigel noticed her unnatural behavior. He cornered her in her office as she was preparing an autopsy report. He knelt down beside her and forced her to spill her guts. Without Woody, Nigel became her best friend. Seemingly her only friend even though she knew that wasn't the case at all. So she spilled. Everything. About the inn, Woody, Lu, and everything that had dumped her to this pit of despair. She let the tears flow freely once again, and rested on Nigel's shoulder as her body shook convulsively from the tears.

Woody was the detective on her most recent case. He came in for the case file she was finishing and saw Jordan and Nigel.

_She sure seems devastated, already jumped into Nigel's arms now that we're done. Pathetic. What a dramatic liar. _Woody thought to himself. But as he stood and watched them, a wave of jealousy and pain hit him. Unlike any emotion he ever had before.

He asked Garrett to fax the report to the precinct. Woody proceeded to jump into the elevator and go home.

And then Woody left. He ran. He ran away from Boston, and away from Jordan. He just ran.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Woody had adjusted to his new life. He had refused to return to Wisconsin, and even the job offer in California reminded him too much of Jordan. So he moved to New York. He took a job at the NYPD, and was soon promoted to a lead detective on homicides. He had a deluxe apartment with a view of the city and right by Central Park. It was the ideal life for any bachelor of the 21st century.

But something always seemed to be missing. Woody knew he missed Boston, his old work, his friends, and of course he missed Jordan. But he would never admit it. So he stayed in New York and drowned out his loneliness with parties and blondes.

_Meanwhile in Boston_

Jordan had never gotten over Woody leaving. She cried for weeks, shut herself in even more. Nigel understood, he was the only one. He knew how much Woody meant to Jordan, how much she loved him, they all did. But Nigel knew more. Nigel knew that Jordan was pregnant. And more importantly, Nigel knew the father was Woody.

Months passed and slowly Jordan gained a little of herself back. She told the rest of her friends about her pregnancy. Lily was so excited for her, then shaken by the absence of the father. She talked to Jordan everyday and was her womanly support. She was the one who went with Jordan to Lamaze and to the doctor appointments. Nigel became a protective brother, not letting anything happen to her that may threaten her or the baby physically or emotionally. Garrett took the role of the father. He encouraged Jordan and shared his experiences from Abby. He helped her prepare and rebuild her independence and yet realize she was far from alone.

On October 19, Jordan gave birth to twins! Cassandra Faith and Noah William. Cassandra because it's a beautiful name (to be nicknamed Cassie), and Faith for the faith Jordan still held for her father. Noah because her son just mirrored it exactly, and William for his father's late father. She fell in love with them instantly. All mothers do of course.

Jordan had done a wonderful job with Cassie and Noah. They were good kids, smart and polite and adorable beyond belief. Cassie had her mother's dark, curly hair and her father's crystal blue eyes. Noah had his father's scruffy school boy hair with his mother's whisky eyes. For fall break, well a make-believe fall break for kindergarteners, Uncle Nigel and Uncle Garrett took the kids on a little vacation. To New York City, the Big Apple. Jordan had a break for awhile, time to relax and not worry. That of course did not stop her constant worry about her kids, but she trusted Nigel and Garrett enough to only call four times a day.

Unfortunately for the dear uncles, Cassie was her mother's daughter. She persuaded Uncle Eddie (Winslow) to find her daddy and when she found out he lived in New York, she began to plan.

Nigel and Garrett took Cassie and Noah to Central Park for the day. Luckily for mischievous little Cassie, the NYPD is right across the street. Being the daring little five year old she is, she waited for Noah or something else to garb her uncles' attention. And they were soon distracted by Noah's flirtation with a little girl by the park bench (he was his father's son-always a charmer). Cassie crossed the busy street with a huge crowd of adults and snuck into the precinct.

"Excuse me? Is Detective Hoyt here?" she asked innocently to the front desk receptionist, putting her best cute face on.

"Ya, corner desk. White shirt, blue tie…" she replied after a curious pause. She poked her head around the corner… "and apparently asleep. Go ahead over there, you can wake him."

"Thank you very much" Cassie skipped off.

\

Meanwhile, Nigel and Garrett had successfully separated the young lovers. Garrett turned around to tell Cassie not to ever kiss boys she didn't know.And that's when he noticed she wasn't there…..

Cassie slowly approached Woody's desk. She gently tapped his shoulder and he flinched a bit in his sleep.

"Excuse me Detective Hoyt!" Cassie whispered.

"Jordan?" he mumbled in his sleep.

"Detective Hoyt!" Cassie said a little louder tapping his arm. When he still didn't wake up, she shook his arm. "Detective Hoyt!" She said again.

He woke from his slumber in a daze. He looked up for who was calling, and didn't see anyone until he felt the tapping on his arm again. It was then he looked down, and saw a little girl staring at him.

Confused he mustered out.. "Are you lost kiddo?"

"Nope, my Uncle Nigel and Uncle Garrett are at the park across the street with my brother. I came to see you."

"Nigel, Garrett… Why did you want to see me?" Woody asked her, now officially confused and he couldn't help but think she looked a lot like Jordan, except for those eyes. Those blue eyes. His own eyes widened as he looked at her.

"How old are you hon?" he asked quietly.

"I'm Cassie. And I just turned five."

"Oh my god!" Woody exhaled.

Nigel grabbed Noah and raced across the street to the police station after he and Garret searched the whole park for Cassie. Garrett kept looking at the park and Nigel went to file a claim for her since she was missing in NYC.

"Oh my god. My niece, she's missing. She ran off, or was taken, I don't know. Please help me!" Nigel exclaimed as he set Noah down and ranted to the receptionist.

"Cassie!" Noah called, spotting his sister.

"Thank you! You found her. Thank you so much!" Nigel shouted and ran to the little girl scooping her and her brother up at once. He was so relieved to find Cassie he didn't even notice Woody.

"Cassandra Faith Cavanaugh! Don't you **_EVER_** run off like that again. You scared your uncles to death!" He disciplined between hugs.

Garrett ran inside the station looking panicked having not found his niece. Then he saw them, and the reunion. And Woody.

Garrett approached cautiously.

"Well if it isn't Woodrow Wilson Hoyt." He gritted.

Nigel looked up in shock.

"Uncle Garret! Be nice. He's out daddy!" Cassie exclaimed in childhood innocence.

"What?" all three adults said at once.

Then Woody looked at Noah, and Cassie, and Noah again. Oh ya, they were his kids. And he never knew.

"I'm their daddy!" Woody thought out loud.


	3. Chapter 3

Woody was seeing the scene before him through an out-of-body experience. This new information shocked him into a dazed consciousness. Garrett recovered quickly and explained how they were bringing the kids home today and that they needed to go get ready to drive back to Boston. Somehow, in the moments that passed, Woody managed to utter quiet goodbyes and watch as Garrett and Nigel led his children out of the police station and back into the streets of New York.

**Meanwhile… **

"Nigel! What did you do?" Garrett questioned through clenched teeth while carrying an exhausted Cassie in his arms.

"Me? It was her!" Nigel defended, pointing to the small child in Garrett's arms.

"She found her father's name, located his new address which we have no record of, and found how to get to the police station… all by herself? That's even above Cassie's level. Sorry Nige, spill or be spilled."

"Okay, so I may have helped. She asked me about her father, Jordan had already told her his name was Woody Hoyt. She brought in a picture from Jordan's drawer and showed me. She looked up with those sad little puppy dog eyes and said, 'Uncle Nigel will help me find my daddy? I know he loves me and Noah very much but he doesn't know how to find us… so we have to find him okay Uncle Nigel!' I couldn't resist Garrett. Not even you can resist that little angel when she looks up at you with those puppy dog eyes!" Nigel pleaded as he bent down to pick up Noah who was falling asleep walking down the street. "And she must have found the station herself, we've been by the park a lot. I had nothing to do with that one."

"Okay, okay Nigel. Fine. I guess that's understandable. But who's going to tell Jordan?"

**Back in Boston**

Jordan lay in a state between sleep and awake. She was watching The Princess Bride for about the hundredth time on this break from work and her kids. Without Cassie and Noah, Jordan didn't know how to pass the days. She had no preschool to run around to and from, no t-ball, no soccer, no gymnastics, no cooking lessons in the kitchen, no bath times that flooded the bathroom, no bedtime stories, no one to tuck in at night… it was lonely without them. She was just happy they were coming home tomorrow morning.

_Knock Knock Knock Knock_

"Okay I'm coming! Hold your horses!" Jordan called to the annoyingly impatient and persistent visitor who called her out of her daydream state.

_"Nothing gave Buttercup greater pleasure that ordering her farm boy about." _The television echoed though the apartment and Jordan reached the door and opened it for her nightly visitor, assuming it was likely Lily or even Eddie Winslow.

"Hi Jo." Woody calmly managed as he stood in her doorway.

"Woody? How did you find me? Why? What do you want?" Jordan asked quickly, in a range from concern, to affection, to anger, to impatience, She had not forgotten their last fight. But she also had no forgotten the years prior or her amazing children that he unknowingly fathered.

"Well, I used my recourses, you know… the phonebook?" Woody smiled his famous smile at Jordan's obvious confusion and nerves.

"But why now? What made you come find me now?" Jordan recovered, calming down and relaxing to his presence.

"Well, a little bird dropped in on me. Actually I do believe she ran away to find me…" Woody began nervously watching Jordan's face grow concerned and worried. "Garrett and Nigel were walking in Central Park, and it seems that a young miss Cassandra Faith Cavanaugh wanted to find her daddy. She ran across the street and found me at my desk. And was shortly followed by Nigel and her twin brother Noah William Cavanaugh. Why didn't you tell me Jo?"

"I didn't want you to come back and hate me, and be resentful toward them. I though I would give you time, and you would come back… like I always did. And then you never came. I prated every night for you to come home to Boston, to your kids, to me." She added in a whisper.

"But Jo. I did come back." Woody soothed as he pulled Jordan into him as her tears began to fall.

"Only because Cassie found you and guilted you back." Jordan quietly quipped.

"Hey now Jo, That's not true. Honest. I was transferring back later this month. I've given up on New York, it's not home to me. It never had been and never could be. I belong in Boston, just like you. With you. Ask Eddie, or Framus, or Seely, they all know about my transfer back to the Boston PD. I promise." Woody explained.

"Really?" Jordan brightened a little.

"Ya! Really. So, those kids of yours, of ours. They are adorable!" Woody smiled.

"They sure are. Do you want to see their memory albums? I updated them this week, I had a lot of free time." Jordan explained.

"Sure, I'd love to."

They sat together on the couch, like they used to do years ago before the shooting and before the fight and before the twins….

Cassie's album was a soft yellow with a vine of flowers on the corner decoration. Noah's was a deep blue with a moon and stars in the corner. Both albums started with pictures of Woody and Jordan together. Woody looked surprised, both at the fact that she kept these pictures and that they were in the albums.

"I wanted them to see their daddy and mommy together." Jordan tearfully explained.

"Hey it's okay Jordan. I'm sorry I left. I never meant to get mad. I never meant to leave, I still don't understand why I did it. But I did, and then I was too ashamed to come back and risk the rejection and the slap I deserved. I'm so sorry Jo." Woody whispered as he pulled Jordan into a hug once again.

They stayed that way for awhile. After Jordan relaxed, they looked through the albums. The day they were born. Garret, Nigel, Lily, Bug, Seely, Framus, and Eddie with Cassie and Noah as babies. Their baptisms. Cassie's godparents were Garrett and Lily. Noah's were Eddie Winslow and Framus. (Cassie for Jordan, Noah for Woody).

Then there were pictures of the kids learning to walk, their first birthday, playing in the sand, at the beach, growing up, birthday parties, holidays… everything from the past five years.

Exhausted from the day, Woody and Jordan fell asleep, Jordan resting in Woody's arms, curled together in sleep, both holding their children's albums in their sleep.

**Morning**

Garrett quietly unlocked the door to Jordan's house and pulled the kids in. He dropped off their bags in the dining room as Cassie and Noah ran to find their mother. They ran to the living room to find both their parents asleep together.

Garrett peeked in and saw Jordan and Woody, he smiled to himself. "Kid finally figured out how to come home." He whispered as he said goodbye to the twins and left them with their parents.

Noah timidly went up to his mother and tried to shake her awake. The movement woke Woody and they found each other staring into each other's eyes. Noah smiled as he saw his daddy and recognized his face. "Hi Daddy!" he said.

"Daddy!" Cassie cried out.

Jordan woke up with a start at the sound of her daughter's yell. She sat up in time to see both children attack their father in a giant hug. And it brought tears to both parent's faces.


End file.
